Ben Ficklin Cemetery, Tom Green County TX Cemetery
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Ben Ficklin Cemetery
San Angelo,
Tom Green County,
Texas
Just off Bryant Throughway and Loop 306 on the south side of San Angelo,
Tom Green County, Texas.
Submitted by:
Hyatt E. Cayton
707 N. Highland St
Seminole, OK 74868
(hyatte@brightok.net)
Currently Identifiable Grave Markers in
Ben Ficklin Cemetery
September 24, 1998
A. F. H.
Smith, Harold Glenn, November 18, 1964, December 8, 1996
McDonald, Charles R., Oct 10, 1898, June 3, 1976
, Pearl, Nov. 21, 1902, Oct. 11, 1993
J. W. Short, Born Feb. 2, 1812, Died Feb 8, 1890
Hattie Short, Born Feb. 2, 1826, Died Nov. 30, 1908
W. B. Short, Born Oct.21, 1867, Died Mar.29, 1890
Jda Short, Beloved Wife of Geo. Short, Born Dec. 3, 1873, Died Apr. 4, 1893
A. Vancourt, Born in Miffin Co. Pa., Feb. 27, 1812, Died Feb. 19, 1881. Not Lost But Gone Before.
E. A. T.
F. C. T.
J. B. T.
James Blakely Taylor, Born July 31, 1824, Died Aug. 24, 1882. Psalms 111.15.
Francis Cobbett Taylor, Born Nov. 24, 1822, Died June 4, 1879. Job XXIX, 11-12.
Esther Ann Taylor, Born Feb. 28, 1822, Died May 15, 1879. Because I live ye shall live also.
Zemula W. Spears, Born May 27, 1838, Died April 19, 1877. Lord thy will be done not mine but thine
O Lord.
Mary Jane Metcalfe, Born April 27, 1826, Died Aug 24, 1882. I Cor XV, 57.
Zemula L. Metcalfe, Born July 15, 1866, Died Aug 24 1882. Mathew V, 8. (There are five unmarked
graves next to hers that appear to be the graves of children.)
Tom L. Watson, Texas, Pvt. ICL.360 INF. 90 Div. April 26, 1889, January 9, 1944
Julia Watson, Oct 27, 1846, Jan 7, 1936. Robert Massie Co.
----------Watson, Borned Jan 22 1908, Died Mar 31, 19----
Moses H. Taylor, Born Dec 14 1870, Died Jan 31 1903
W. M. Watson, July 26, 1844, Feb. 24, 1916. Gone But Not Forgotten.
(Buddy) Luther Alvin Watson, 1913-1938. Tho Lost To Sight To Memory Dear.
L. T. L.
Silas J. Born Jan 10, 1904 Son Of W. Lawler Died Apr 10, 1904. Our Baby Has Gone To Rest.
Porfirio DeHoyos, Marso. 6. DE. 1921, Fayesio De 26 Anos DE. EDA
Alam ------, De El Nino Plutarco Rocha Jue Fahesio. El 20 DE 1894
(Lamb Inset) Infant Dau of D. & M. Goss, Died July 10, 1907 Aged 4 Months
Thomas Leon Watson, Born Oct 18, 1942, Died Oct 29, 1942
Mattie Wife Of Dave Goss Born June 17, 1875, Died June 27 1908.
L. A. (Lee) Stewart, Sept. 23, 1877, Feb. 19, 1943
Father John W. Lawler, 1867-1937
Raymond Aniel Stewart, 3.3.(?)/(?).(?)42
Lee Stewart
John Watson
There are 101 identifiable graves besides those listed above which are unmarked.
INDEX OF GRAVES
DeHoyos, Porfirio
Goss, D. & M., Infant Daughter of
Goss, Mattie, wife of Dave
Lawler, John W.
Lawler, Silas J.
McDonald, Charles R.
Metcalf, Mary Jane
Metcalf, Zemula L.
Short, J. W.
Short, Hattie
Short, W. B.
Short, Jda
Smith, Harold Glenn
Spears, Zemula W.
Stewart, L. A. (Lee)
Stewart, Raymond Aniel
Stewart, Lee
Taylor, James Blakely
Taylor, Francis Cobbett
Taylor, Esther Ann
Taylor, Moses H.
Vancourt, A.
Watson, Tom L.
Watson, Julia
Watson, ....
Watson, W. M.
Watson, Luther Alvin
Watson, Thomas Leon
Watson, John
Ben Ficklin Cemetery
(Also known as Metcalfe-Spence Cemetery)
Replaced older burial plot at nearby settlement of Ben Ficklin, after
flood of August 24, 1882. Washed away the town and inundated the
cemetery exposing many graves. Charles B. Metcalfe, Nephew of
Col. Francis C. Taylor, founder of Ben Ficklin selected this site on
higher ground to reintern remains of relatives including Col. Taylor, and
bury his mother, sister, and another uncle, victims of the flood.
Final resting place of many Tom Green County pioneers
Cemetery and village were named for owner of San Antonio-El Paso Mail
Line, Ben Ficklin.
TOM GREEN COUNTY
A part of the Miller and Fisher Grant in 1842 - created a county March
13, 1874 - organized January 5, 1875. Named in honor of General Thomas
Green, 1814-1864 a veteran of San Jacinto, member of the Somervell
Expedition, a confederate officer. First mail route to the Pacific
converged here in 1858. County Seat, Ben Ficklin 1875, San Angelo since 1882.
(Texas State Historical Marker located in front of the Ben Ficklin Cemetery)
Major Ben Ficklin
(1827-1871)
Called mystery man of the Confederacy. Educated at Virginia Military
Institute. At age 18 served as a corporal in Mexican War. In 1850's
worked with stagecoach and mail lines from Missouri to San
Francisco. Helped to start the pony express line in 1860. Promoted idea
of the railroad that later was the Union Pacific - the first to span the US.
Was a soldier and state quartermaster in Virginia at start of Civil
War. Appointed confederate purchasing agent, his swagger and success in
Europe excited Federal envy. Personally ran blockade and passed through
New York and Washington on secret missions.
In 1867 was awarded U. S. Contract for weekly mail run from Ft Smith,
Arkansas, to San Antonio, and El Paso, Texas. Had his Headquarters three
miles below Fort Concho, owned 640 acres of land here. Build corrals,
blacksmith shops, storage rooms, adobe house, kitchen and commissary. On
a visit to Washington, D. C., died of swallowing a fish bone. Was
buried in Charlottsville, VA. Associates carried on the mail stage
runs. Later named town near Fort Concho for the Late
Major. "Benficklin" was first county seat of Tom Green County and served
until it was destroyed by flood in 1882.
(Texas State Historical Marker located just above where the town of Ben
Ficklin was located.)
THE BEN FICKLIN CEMETERY
(Contributed by Wyvon McCrohan and Loretta L. Cook)
Just off Bryant Throughway and Loop 306 on the south side of San
Angelo, virtually unnoticed by busy travelers lies the Ben Ficklin
Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in Tom Green County. Although a historical
site marker was placed there in 1973, this historic spot, for the most
part, remains unheralded, neglected, and damaged by weather and
vandalism.
During the time the Jaycees were restoring and cleaning up the
cemetery as one of their Bicentennial projects, the late Mrs. Bertha
(Stewart) Meeks was helping them to identify various graves. While
standing by the grave of her maternal grandfather, William L. Watson
(1844-1916), she could identify the graves of her grandmother, Julie
Watson (1846- 1936) and her father, Lee Arlington Stewart, buried here in
1943, age 65 at the time of his death. During the search, she was able
to locate the graves, marked only by a wooden marker with no visible
notation, of her paternal grandfather, Samuel Kimberly Stewart, and also
a grave believed to be that of Samuel's wife Molly.
Easier to find are the marked graves of her uncle, Tom L. Watson
(1889-1944), John W. Lawler 1867-1937), and Rufus Watson, the latter
having died of meningitis. Other tragic deaths are indicated by the
graves of Luther Watson killed in a 1938 car wreck on the Ben Ficklin
Road. Luther was the son of Jeff Watson, who many years earlier had
buried four of his children whose deaths occurred within five days, all
victims of meningitis. Their small graves are visible today with stone
markers standing in a row.
Several other Stewart and Watson relatives are buried here, but
like so many others in the cemetery, the graves cannot be
identified. They include other sons of Samuel Kimberly Stewart -Arthur
Stewart, Kennedy Stewart, Irrie Stewart, -- and two daughters, Charlsie
Winans and Arlu Ward.
The Stewart Family had buried their dead here often after being
told by C. B. Metcalfe that "this is a good place to lay your kin to
rest." Mr. Metcalfe was a nephew of Francis C. Taylor, who operated the
mail station established by Major Ben Ficklin. After Ben Ficklin's
death, Mr. Taylor named the community for his friend and
associate. Mr. Taylor was buried in the cemetery in 1879.
In 1882, the disastrous flood which destroyed the town of Ben
Ficklin, inundated the original cemetery (believed to have been located
just north or northwest of the present site), exposing many graves and
ruining markers. One quote from that time recalls, "the flooding caused
the dead to leave their graves and float downstream.
It was C. B. Metcalfe who selected a piece of higher ground to
bury his mother, Mary Jane Metcalfe; his 16-year-old sister, Zemula
L. Metcalfe; and uncle, James B. Taylor, all victims of the flood, and to
re-intern remains of other relatives, including Francis C. Taylor.
Other family names appearing on markers include Short, Walker,
Hernandez, and McDonald. Also laid to rest there were two members of the
Goss family, A. F. Herring, Zemula W. Spears, Thelma R. Tollett,
A. Vancourt, and Lee Stewart and his baby son, Raymond Daniel Stewart,
whose marker is inset with marbles. Many of the graves were originally
decorated with shells from the nearby Concho River, but most have long
since disappeared. Some gravesites are visible only by an outline of
rocks or a small, metal funeral-home marker.
Original wooden crosses have fallen away, leaving many final
resting places obscure. Some gravesites are surrounded by metal fencing
and others by rock walls in various stages of deterioration.
Internment was permitted in the Ben Ficklin Cemetery until the
mid-1940's when access into the cemetery became a problem. The rocky
hilltop, now accessible because of highway construction required by
expansion and development of San Angelo, is overgrown with brush and
weeds, though there is now a church, houses, and the busy highway nearby.
Within the cemetery itself, a sense of loneliness prevails,
spurred perhaps by the fact that this long neglected resting place of
many Tom Green County pioneers and two site markers are all that remains
of the once thriving community of Ben Ficklin, the first county seat of
Tom Green County.